Na-na-na-na-na-na-na...Batman and Super Emotions

I live in the land of superheroes. Boys who love Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, Superman, and many other supermen with super powers and super everything. It suits my oldest just fine. The boy who needs to rev everything up. Everything is done on overdrive.

If you are going to get angry remember to growl and scowl at your tormenters, scream as if you were being chased down by a pack of wolves, kick walls, slam doors, and throw the random object/objects for effect because YOUR ANGRY.

And if you happen to be happy, screech with delight, brighten those blues, smile so hard it looks like you have large jaw breakers in each cheek and keep it there as you literally bounce from one corner to the next to find new people you can share your happiness with.

Ooooh the sadness, a few days ago you proclaimed what a bad mommy I was for not rushing immediately to your aide when you fell on your knees for the billionth time. Tears streaming you proclaimed, "OoooooooooH Mommmmmmmy. You don't take care of me very well." Ooooh the drama, and OUCH--your comment hurt. But as always you were fine, and you got your hug even though it was two seconds too slow for you.

Lets not forget Love. This you take to the extreme as well. Noodle arm hugs around my neck that I am sure will break my windpipe or at least suffocate me slowly. Kisses that leave imprints on my cheeks for days and I swear will one day relocate my teeth.

And I worry about your brother, who is often a victim of all your super emotions. The little Bee who worries about you and loves you back with the same intensity you do, but is often toppled by your raging emotions of anger, jealousy, and love. The Bee who wants to be just like you down to the article of clothing you're wearing and your love for any and all superheroes. "I wanna wear Batman, too!" he protests and so he does.

Sooo many emotions taken to sooo many extremes--these are but a few. The boy with the super emotions. I love you. You're a passionate little boy, and I hope one day you grow up to be a passionate man. A passionate man who has his emotions under control of course. The world will never be ready for the destruction that may come from an out of control, emotional grown man like yourself.


Na-na-na-na-na-na...Batman...

Realist or Abstract Expressionist?

I love the way kids express themselves. Sometimes it is all very haphazard, but most of the time it is very deliberate. With really young kids, I am always left wondering what it was they were thinking and/or trying to do. My oldest is at the point where he is making very discernible pictures of actual objects and people. I love having conversations with him about his art, and what it is he has created. Big Brother usually has very elaborate stories to go with his pictures and boundless imagination.

The above picture is one of his more realistic drawings. It is the Starship Enterprise with the Borg following closely behind. The Borg ship is complete with windows and green power output lines. The Enterprise is trying to escape the Borg who are unrelenting. Can you tell he's a treky?

This is one of the elder boy's more abstract painting. When I asked him what it was, he said it was a monster shooting torpedoes. The yellow circle with the blue in the middle is one of the glowing monsters. The handprints are robots trying to help the monster. The "bad guys" have run rampant. These stories are definitely better told by the boy as he loves to add sound effects and movement through hand gestures. He is very animated. This painting actually reminds me of a peacock chasing a miniature red horse, but what do I know? He is a boy of extremes.

The littlest Bee is still in the abstract phase, but is attempting some realistic drawings. Below you can see one of his most recent creations.

The Bee claims this is a self-portait. Maybe he was channeling Salvador Dali and approached this much like a surrealist would--blonde hair as a trunk, blue eyes, body of a frog, and a newsboy cap. What is he trying to tell us about himself?

Bee Happy and Learning!

This last week my youngest Bee got to go to his first day of school. He has been dyyyying to go to school this whole year. He'd beg his Dada to let him tag along to drop off the Older Boy at his co-op, and then the Bee would proceed to hold on to whatever object in the school looked securely bolted down or would simply runaway and attempt to hide. In the end, there would be some screaming and bargaining done, and the Bee would be ousted once more. "School, school, school," he'd repeat over and over and over again. He'd stamp his feet and protest, "I wanna go school, NOW." The dada would calmly try to tell him that his time would come, and he wasn't quite old enough to go just yet.

Last Monday must have been his happiest day ever in his short, but largely-lived life. He jumped out of bed at the mention of school, and before we knew it had drank his morning cup of chocolate milk (his idea of coffee), eaten his cereal, gotten dressed and hair brushed with a little help from the Mama, and brushed his teeth without a single complaint and a smile on his face. He just kept repeating, "I'm gonna go to school too-day." Every few minutes, he'd periodically stop to sing and dance his self-created little ditty--"now, now, now-now, now, now, now- now, now." This is always a sign that he is beyond overjoyed and excited.

His day started with a car ride and a big, cheesy grin that ended in much the same way. The Bee delighted in all the school had to offer: the snack table was visited often; a medal for sports day was decorated with copious amounts of glitter; a few laps around the school with several different trikes were taken; the dolls were all admired for their beauty as he lifted each against his chest and announced "beau-ti-ful"; the sand was used for digging, dust-bathing, and food preparation; the play structure became a safe haven from villains; and many balls were kicked or thrown.

He made new friends and even some temporary enemies-Miss A decided she did not want to befriend any boys and smacked him one. The next day, Miss A decided to make-up during circle time, and this time smacked a big juicy one on his cheek. Misguided love?Maybe? Thankfully, his older brother was there for support. In the end, all was perfect in his world, and I was able to be witness to another first. Had he started school in the fall, I would have missed it all--work beckons in August.

He's Five Now

So I have been posting more and more sparingly, and missed many opportunities to discuss the many crazy things going on in the lives of the boys. The eldest boy is FIVE now! He doesn't let us forget it these days.

"I'm five now so I wash my own icky hands before I suck my thumb" -because apparently only immature four year olds suck their dirty thumb. Cleaning it makes you mature.

"I can brush my own teeth because I'm five"- not really. He forgets all the time, and maybe manages to brush two teeth.

"I'm five now so I can pour my own drink"-only if there is only 1/25 of the drink left in the bottle.

"I'm five now so....." You get the picture.

*****

Big brother has been attending a co-op preschool that he loves, but is completely draining his parents. The requirements for the co-op seem a bit obscene if you ask me: buy $250 of scrip every month, work one day a week in the classroom, complete six hours of fundraising, work 6 hours on a workday, perform the work for your committee, attend a monthly meeting at night for 3 hours and another 3 hours in the daytime, design a yearbook page and ... well, who knows what they will come up with next.

It's a full time job most of the time, which would be fine if I didn't already have a full time job I actually got paid for. His daddy does most of the work since he is only working half-time most days, and he loves going to preschool with the older boy, but the time commitment is a bit much. What happened to just dropping the kids off and picking them up when they're done? They get some playtime in, and you get a much needed break. I am all for being an integral part of their education, but sometimes, I wouldn't mind just handing that job over to someone else completely. Maybe if we just had to work in the classroom without having to do any of the outside classroom work, or vice-versa. I could swing that.

The Bee may not be attending this preschool next year-SAD. We both have to work full-time if we ever want to afford to buy a house here. That leaves us once again with finding another preschool we love, and another elementary school suitable for the older boy and his hyper needs. Some stability would be nice about now. I am sick of the trade-offs.

Why the world turns

One sunny day last week, as we were walking home from the park, Big Brother looked up, pointed at all the "pretty" colors in the sky, and spewed forth an endless stream of questions.

BB: Look momma, the sun is setting
Me (huffing and puffing up the mini hill where our house sits): Yep.
BB (looking up at the sky): Why does the sun set?
Me: Because the Earth turns and the sun hides on the other side of the Earth.
BB: Why does the Earth turn?
Me (pausing for a moment trying desperately to think back to my Earth History class in college): I think it's because of the pull of the sun, but I'm really not sure.
BB (looking puzzled): How do we not fall off?
Me: Gravity is a force that makes us stick to Earth because Earth is enormous. It's shaped like a big ball - a sphere.
BB: So grabity keeps us stuck? What's inside the earth?
Me (Thinking I seriously didn't expect these kind of questions until at least 4th grade): Rocks, metals, dirt. The world is made up of several layers - the crust, mantle which is more of a lava-like substance, and a dense core.
BB: Can we go inside the Earth?
Me: Not very far. The Earth is so huge, we just don't have the technology to go inside the Earth.
BB: Can we leave the Earth and go into outerspace?
Me (trying to remember I am still walking on the street and should look out for cars): Yes, but we can't go too far. We need to use powerful spaceships or rockets to break from gravity's force.
BB: Can we visit the sun?
Me: No we don't have the technology to go as far as the sun, and even if we did, we would start to melt before we got anywhere near it. It one big fiery star.
BB: What if we wear astronaut suits?
Me: It would still be too hot.
BB: Can we go to other planets like Saturn or Mars or Jupiter?
Me: (attempting to gather all our things including kids into the house): We can't go yet, but we have sent satellites and robots to Mars.
BB: Can you show me pictures of the Earth?

The conversation went on for another 30 minutes like that that led to a display of a ball revolving around a lamp, a visit to google earth, and further discussions of Earth years, seasons, and the Earth's orbit around the sun.

I'm sure some of the informations mentioned was incorrect like the part where I said the Earth spins because of the sun. What I should have said was that it's probably because of the cosmic explosion that formed Earth and hurled it into space, and other collisions that sent it spinning. In my defense, his question caught me off guard, and no one really knows exactly why the Earth spins. I'm sure he'll ask me about all these wonderful cosmic forces I know little about next time we see a sunset. I really thought he and I would be much older before he started asking me questions I couldn't answer. There are still so many questions I myself am searching for answers to - like how it is two tiny bodies can produce soooo much laundry.

Roses are...

I got flowers today for the first time in a LOOOOONG time. When my husband and I were first dating in high school he use to come over with a bouquet of flowers almost each and every time he'd come visit. Sure he usually cut them off of someone's lawn, but nonetheless, I loved the gesture and still have a box full of old dry roses he use to bring over.

Many years went by and eventually he stopped bringing me flowers. I didn't even see flowers when I gave birth to my two boys. Today, though, I got flowers from a new little man. My eldest decided that he would cut some off our yard and bring them to me. In his words they were "Fowers for when you and daddy get married". How do I break it to him that mommy and daddy are already married , and that there were no flowers then? I probably should also not mention that he's picking those flowers off some unknown weed that is quite stinky for fear that I may never get flowers again.

I love the fact that he can now occasionally think outside himself, and do something nice for someone else. Today he decided to do something sweet for me. I just hope that he continues to step outside his own shoes, and see the world through the eyes of others, and to on some occasions see that maybe someone could benefit from a small bouquet of "fowers". His thoughtful gesture brightened up my day.

The Poo Poo Iniot Tribe

The Dada and I have reason to believe Big Brother thinks we are part of the Poo Poo Iniot Tribe. Whenever he is irate that he is not getting all that his little heart desires, he frequently responds by reminding us we are "Poo Poo Iniots".

Who are the Poo Poo Iniots? Is it possible that Big Brother wandered into my many dusty anthropology books and discovered something about our ancestral heritage that I missed reading about while in college? Probably not. This kid knows his alphabet, but that's a far cry from actually being able to read college level books. Huh? Maybe he has us confused with some tribe he heard about on PBS. He does watch a lot of Reading Rainbow and I know for a fact Levar Burton has done an episode on the Taos Pueblo. Are the Poo Poo Iniots somehow related? Maybe he means the Poo Poo Inuits?

Or is it possible that Big Brother is just a BRAT with an uncontrollable potty mouth. I think maybe the last choice is the most plausible answer, but it would have been cool to be a part of some exotic tribe called the Poo Poo Iniots.

Oh well, on another note. I LOVE Four! Sooooooooo Much better than 2 and 3. The tantrums are less frequent, the kid more self sufficient, more calm, more teachable, sleep more continuous and afar, more independent and creative play, increased ability for rational thought, more patient, more responsible, more cautious, and the things he says and does are just plain funny. So when four isn't spewing out naughty nonsense phrases, having some kind of meltdown, or ignoring my request to clean up or behave, he is quite tolerable. Now, if we could somehow get the Bee to skip all the wonders that are 2 and 3 and jump right into four we'd be in business.

My Littlest is 1!

One year and one day ago, my littlest Bee was born. It took a lot of pushing to get him out, because even though he was coming out head first, he wasn't facing the right direction, and it took 5 1/2 hours of pushing to get him out. His head was massively lopsided and he screamed and screamed. We figured he must have had a monstrous headache.

It's amazing how much they change in one year, and how fast that one year goes once you get past the first three months of intense breastfeeding. My little grub is now walking, talking, eating solids, and asserting his place in this family. (I'd like to add sleeping to that list, but alas, he still doesn't sleep for more than four hours straight.)

Happy Birthday Bee! I love you! You were a wonderful birthday gift when you were born, and you continue to bless me everyday with your sweetness.

Blrrrrrrrrr...

Like I said he was a blur once we made it into the classroom. These were the only pictures we got that weren't of the back of his head.

On the way to school

Yes, we have to take a picture of everything. Its in the genes - just ask all your grandmas.

What a listener?! If only he listened this well at home.

A Smile from Ear to Ear

Big Brother started preschool today and in a lot of ways. It felt like I was starting preschool. I was the one who was anxious, the one who couldn't sleep at night - although that could have also been because the Bee kept waking up crying-, and I was the one who was hesitant to have us apart.

I envisioned many tears, screams, whining, kicking, and a few swear words tossed around - by him, not me of course. I am sorry to say I have little drama to report. He went in, put a hard hat on, and started playing. No real action or drama to report. We left with nothing more than a quick kiss, and a big goodbye.

We went to pick him up after a few hours of clock watching expecting to hear one horror story after another from his teacher, and a boy who would run to his family as if he hadn't seen them in years. Instead, he was sitting on the carpet in the very front listening to his teacher read a story, and occasionally interjecting with his many brilliant ideas and comments. When he finally saw us at the door, he smiled and waved, and went back to listening to the story and putting in his two cents. Totally what I hoped for, but nothing what I imagined. The teacher had nothing to report except that our little caveman kept taking his shoes off at the playground.

When questioned later about his day, he did admit to using a naughty word or two, and maybe perhaps pushing a boy - figures. When asked if he missed us he simply replied, "no". How's that for love?

A New Look for a New Year

Birthday ready!

(Daddy really just wasn't a fan of the whole mullet look. I personally miss playing with his long soft baby hair.)

Is it possible?

Is it possible that my 3 year old has the capacity for rational thought, the ability to understand cause and effect? His previous what-were-you-thinking behavior can make me think otherwise. No, A&D is not for finger painting on mirrors and sinks, and no, it's not okay to put that plastic bag over your baby brother's head.

A few days ago, we were walking to the park when a Fed Ex truck rode by with a man who was suppose to be driving it, but was not. He was intently looking down and savoring his slurpie as he stirred it during that hot and muggy day. He felt it was more important to pay attention to his slurpie than the fact that he was driving by a school, a park, and pool during this very sticky and busy day.

My 3 year old who was riding in the stroller at the time, yelled out to me completely astonished, "Look mommy! The truck is dribing by is self !"

"Why do you say that I asked?" prodding for info.

"The man is not paying attention. He just moving the straw back and forth, back and forth."

"What do you think might happen?" I asked again searching for the signs of intelligent life.

"He's gonna crash! (proceed to fill with your favorite crashing noises)" Nothing like a good crash I guess.

Luckily, no one was hurt. We'll at least as far as I could see.